So sad about Strictly.

[CurlewKate]

It's been part of our family life since it started. I really wanted to think it was as wholesome and joyous and life affirming as it looked, even though I knew it probably wasn't.

And there are celebrities that I feel differently about now because they didn't blow the whistle.😢

This!

You don't need/deserve to be hit, kicked or spat on though, do you?

Really no taking ownership whatsoever for the acts he committed! Blaming someone else for not stopping him, thinks he’s in the right, has not made himself look good one bit.

Time for it to end, I think. At least in its current format. Perhaps have a weekly winner and then a semi-final and final, so you only appear on three shows.

SCD should have been shelved a long time ago. It had become far too competitive & the true spirit of the competition lost. It is nowhere near the program it used to be.

Didn't Rachel Riley marry her dance partner?

Yes, they're still married.

I don't think her complaint about the show was anything to do with him specifically, just that the general environment was very stressful. It wasn't his training methods.

I don’t often watch it. But there seems a lot is put on for the cameras to make it good television. I do not question bullying. However we live in a British culture where a lot of the professional dancers being criticised are not British. But have made comments about their passion. Yes they have to work hard to get results. But I wonder if cultural differences have allowed for what is being criticised. I’m not sure what is the right/wrong situation. But it’s sad for all involved.

@ClownsFear I meant why didn't she feel that she was supported or that there was proper safeguarding in place to protect her.

However, I agree and see it perhaps as a boiled frog scenario which started small and gradually escalated. Perhaps it went from verbal abuse to pushes, then slaps, then spitting. I also wonder about her background and whether this is behaviour she is familiar with.

Again, women will also have experienced the same kind of bullying training but the female professionals haven't been spitting at and kicking the men. Though there seems to have been some instances of bullying towards the men.

My heart goes out to Zara who must have felt very alone and traumatised by such abusive behaviour.

The BBC says it has strict procedures in place but they are evidently not effective and need rehauling.

Rachel Riley just jumps on any bandwagon going.

I agree that there may be some level of cultural differences, Italy is a very misogynistic country, but kicking and hitting someone can not be down to that.

The victim-blaming and blind defence of these dancers on Facebook in particular has been disgusting. Mostly from women!! I despair.

Eek! Is that all your own research?

These poor men, it's not their fault! And even if it was, why didn't someone stop them?! Wahhhhhhhhhh

Will Young was intriguing tbh.

Who is?

I was a front row audience member in one of the very first programmes and the production staff were ruthless. The audience applause is staged and forced.

Ruthless how?

Give me him over the others. Fat suit routine and Nell de Jaunes persona aside, I think Thirsty Neil could teach me without losing it. Actually his experience dancing in a fat suit might come in useful, given I'm plus size.

Who's an attention seeker? If you're talking about Zara she didn't make a complaint. Footage of the abuse was given to BBC controllers and he was sacked.

Yuck! I can't stand him. But preferable to some idiot who spits at women.

She did. Happily married with children. She still stated that doing the show left her with mild trauma in that every time she hears the music, it transports her back to feeling nervous and petrified. At least two others (Sunetra Sarker and Zoe Lucker) have reported the same.

That’s needlessly unkind.

Explain how?